Szeged Travel Guide
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168km (105 miles) SE of Budapest
Szeged (pronounced Seh-ged), the proud capital of the Great Plain, is a hot and dusty but hospitable town. World famous for its paprika and salami (Pick Szalami), Szeged is also home to one of Hungary's major universities, named after Attila József, the brilliant but disturbed interwar poet who rose to artistic heights from a childhood of desperate poverty. As a young man, he was expelled from the university that would later change its name to honor him. Driven by private demons, Hungary's great "proletarian poet" committed suicide at the age of 32 by hurling himself under a train at Balatonszárszó, by Lake Balaton. József failed to achieve wide recognition during his lifetime; today, though, he is adored in Hungary, particularly by teenagers and students drawn to his rebellious, nonconformist, irreverent spirit. The national book fair is traditionally opened on his birthday, April 11, each year. A wonderfully unassuming statue of the poet stands in front of the university's main building on Dugonics tér. The only other statue of him that we know of is next to the Parliament Building in Budapest, sitting on the steps of the embankment, evoking thoughts of one of József's famous poems, about the multicultural Danube, written against the specter of nationalism in the 1930s.
In addition to its status as a center of learning and culture, Szeged is the industrial capital of the Great Plain (Alföld), though you wouldn't know it by spending a day or two in the city center. The Tisza River splits the city in two, with the historic center lying, Pest-style, within a series of concentric ring boulevards on the left bank. Indeed, the river looms large in Szeged's history: The city was almost completely destroyed when the Tisza flooded in 1879. With financial assistance from a number of European cities -- Brussels, Berlin, Rome, London, and Paris -- the city was rebuilt in the characteristic ring style of the time. The post-flood reconstruction explains why Szeged's finest architecture is of the fin de siècle Art Nouveau style. Don't miss the synagogue and the recently restored Reök Building (now a bank) on the corner of Kölcsey utca and Feketesas utca.
The people of Szegend, many of whom are students, love to stroll along the riverside, sit in cafes, and window-shop on the just reconstructed elegant Karász utca, the town's main pedestrian-only street. Dóm tér, a beautiful, wide square, is home to the Szeged Summer Festival, a popular summer-long series of cultural events. At the end of July, Szeged also plays host to a theater festival known as Thealter for its focus on alternative performances. An international festival, Thealter was founded by drama students from the university and draws theater troupes from all over Europe. In 2003 Thealter celebrated its 13th season. Ask about both of these festivals at Tourinform or Szeged Tourist.
